This is the final installment of my series on the archetypes of a Trump presidency. These ideas come out of an exercise I used to alleviate the anxiety I felt on Election Night as the returns confirmed a Trump win. I was overwhelmed, disappointed, dismayed, but most of all, worried. So, using a method called ‘mind mapping’ I put all my associated thoughts about the upcoming administration down on paper. What emerged was a map of actions, observations, and forces that could shape a Trump presidency into five distinct scenarios.
External forces, say if Trump is in debt to international individuals or institutions, could contribute to a presidency that was designed to extricate Trump from an adverse financial situation. This line of thinking led to two archetypes, the ‘Puppet’ and the ‘Sellout’.If instead of external pressure to perform Trump is driven by his own personal need for respect, power or domination a very different set of possibilities emerge. In the scenario where Trump allows his own needs to shape his presidency we may see the characteristics of the ‘Cappo’, the ‘King’ or the ‘Dictator’.